Stress fighter tip #2: Be thankful in stressful situations.
‘Duck, Karen! Someone just hit the computer screen. Oh that was you.’
One of the hardest things I had to learn when I dealt with my stress seizures was learning how to be thankful at all times.
The last thing I wanted to hear from people was the advice to be thankful in spite of the situations I found myself in.
I saw no purpose in being thankful for my stressful situations but I certainly could find plenty of reasons to be deeply engrossed in self-pity.
I lived the lie that the one got me further than the other and offered more satisfaction. I chose to draw the shades down over the window of my life and refused to let not even a ray of sunshine in.
It took a great deal of effort but I eventually found out that being thankful does help in stressful situations.
We don’t have to be thankful for what we are stressed about but there are plenty of things we can be thankful for. It’s a matter of focus as well as choices.
I can’t find a single reason to be thankful for the cancer I currently face but I am thankful I was granted a few more years to live.
After all, it didn’t have to be. I’m thankful I have family and friends that are so supportive. I’m thankful I’m not so sick I can’t leave my home. I’m thankful I’m still able to work and be a caregiver to my elderly parents.
Even if we can’t seem to come up with such an on-the-spot list when we are dealing with stress there is something else we can do.
We can turn to whatever we have in front of us to be thankful for it. Such as the toilet paper nearby, window panes that lets in the light and the view no matter how dirty they are, a playful cat, or a lazy dog.
Thankful for the artwork God has given us to enjoy even though we don’t feel like we can take pleasure in it at the time.
Being thankful inside the stresses of life defeats the purposes that stress would like to obtain.
Again it doesn’t have to be connected to what we are stressed over, the more it’s not the more our focus goes to something more positive.
Being thankful helps draw our minds and hearts away from what is going on to give us the rest we require to endure.
For example, the stress of a love one’s death can be very devastating yet in the midst of the mourning, happy memories are brought up and a little bit of sunshine creeps into the situation.
It’s up to us if we want that little ray of sunshine to come through via a thankful attitude or if we choose to stay backed in the dark corner where stress has us pinned. If the latter had been my choice I would still be an epileptic to this day bombarded by seizures, defeated by stress.
Thankfulness, don’t leave home without it!
Read more posts by Karen Gillett here. Karen is a JenningsWire blogger.
